Flexible joint



April l0, 1928.

L. H. GILLICK FLEXIBLE JOINT Original Filed July 26,7 1920 @llllllPatented Apr. 10, 1928.

- 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE H. GILLICX, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR T VAPOR CAB. BEAT-ING COMPANY, INC., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FLEXIBLE JOIN T.

Uriginal application filed J'uly 26, 1920, Serial No. 398,882. Dividedand this application filed July l, 1925. Serial N0. 41,053.

joint which will be flexible even when the iuid pressure therein is veryhigh, and which will also be fluid tight and so remain after continuedperiods of service; to provide a joint which can be re-packed, whennecessary, without disconnecting the flexible joint structure entirelyfrom the conduit or pipe line with which it is associated; to provide ajoint, the members of which will have a wider range of angular movementthan possessed by the usual so-called universal joints; to provide asimple arrangef ment whereby the members of the joint will have capacityfor swivel movement, as between each other, as well as angular movement;to construct and dispose the parts of. arts is' the joint so that theweight of the not imposed on the packing where 'f easy flexibility isinsured and the packing has capacity for self-adjustmentv under'tluid orspring pressure, or both, against the ball members of the joint; and inother respects to be hereinafter noted, vto provide an improved iexiblejoint for use on railway trains, for example, in place of the usualrubber hose connecting the train pipe sections or in other situationswhere lightness, compact structure, strength and flexibility over wideranges are requisite.

The invention is illustrated in certain preferred embodiments, in theaccompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through my improved jointstructure.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in side elevation showing a train lineconnection comprising my improved flexible joint structure.

Referring to the several figures of the drawing,-9 and 10 indicatesocket members, each of internally cylindrical form with an inwardlyextending flange 11 at one end, said two members being secured togetherby a union 12 mounted by means of screw threads upon the section 10 andhaving an inwardly extending flange 13 in engagement with an outwardlyextending flange 14 formed on the section 9. The union 12 is held fromloosening on the section 10 by means oi' a cotter pin 15 passing steamtrain pipes of two railway cars and embodying my improved construction.In this construction, two of the flexible joint structures are employed,connected together by means oi a pipe 19, the end portion of a trainpipe 20 being shown at the top and a hose coupler 21 at the bottom.

The ball members 16 and 17 are held adjustably in position within thesocket by means of circular lugs 22 which project at opposite sides ofthe ball members into elongated notches or recesses 23 formed on theinner faces .of the flanges 11, the arrangement being such that the ballis able to have either a swinging motion about the lugs 22 or aswiveling motion about the longitudinal axis of the socket. The lugs 22and recesses 22 for one ball are preferably arranged at right-angles tothe lugs and recesses for the other ball.

Between the inner ends of the ball members 16 and 17, I have provided apacking member or gasket 24. This gasket is formed with two curvedsurfaces 25 at its opposite ends for bearing against the outer surfacesof the ball members, the inner face of the gasket being provided withundercut grooves 26 in which are seated the ends of the coiled spring27. This gasket is to be formed of rubber, rubber composition or othermaterial of a type that is soft and resilient as compared with the metalparts of the device, or of a type that will soften under the inuence ofheat under conditions such as eXitsts in a train pipe joint in use.

By the use of the spring 27 taken in connection with the force of thefluid pressure upon the shoulders of the gasket forming the grooves 26,the faces 25 of the gasket are kept in contact with the ball membersaswear takes place, the force of the spring and the fluid pressureserving to elongate the gasket slightly as may be necessary foreffecting this result. The fluid pressure serves likewise for holdingthe gasket pressed outwardly against the inner face of the socket,serving to render the joint leakproof.

With a joint so constructed, the angular 'movement of each ball memberwith respect to the socket member may be considerable, because thesocket member does not directly engage the ball members (the engagementbetween them being made by the lug and recess connectiom) so that theportions of the socket member limiting the angular movements` of theball member need not project beyond, or even to, the line of maximumtransverse diameter of the ball member.

The pivotal connections between the socket members and the ball memberstakes the stress as between said members which rcsults from the internallluid pressure, and also relieves the gaskets of the weight of the partsof the joint. 'lhis gives the joint easy llexibility even when theinternal pressure is high, since the articulated parts, the ball andsocket members, -do not bear on each other at all in the sense that theordinary ball and'socket members bear upon each other, the engagementbetween the socket and the balls being limited to the pivotalconnections by which the friction is minimized. In this construction,the packing is self-feeding and self-adjusting against the surfaces or'the ball members, so that wear on the gaskets does not bring about aleaky condition or' the joint.

This application is being filed as a division of my co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 398,882, filed July 26, 1920.

I claim:

l. ln a flexible pipe joint, the combination of a socket member'havingan elongated socket cavity, ball members extending into opposite ends ofthe socket cavity, means for flexibly connecting the ball members withthe socket member, a single longitudinally extensible annular packingmember of less length than the socket cavity and bodily movablelongitudinally within the socket and having end portions which areforced into the spaces between the ball members and the socket memberand having curved surfaces bearing against said ball members,respectively, said packing member being formed with shoulders adjacentto said curved surfaces, and a spring interposed between said shoulders.

2. In a ilexible pipe joint, the combination of a socket member havingan elongated socket cavity, ball members extending into omnosite ends ofthe socket cavity, means for flexibly connecting the ball members withthe socket member, an elongated annular gasket of less length than thesocket cavity and mounted between said ball membersy and bodily movablelongitudinally within the socket and having end portions shaped to wedgeinto the spaces between the inner ends of the ball members and thesocket member, and a spring acting on said gasket serving to elongatethe gasket and hold the end portions in operative contact with the endsof the ball members.

8. In a flexible pipe joint, the combination of a socket member havingan elongated socket cavity, ball members extending into opposite ends ofthe socket cavity, means for flexibly connecting the ball members withthe socket member, an elongated annular gasket of less length than thesocket cavity and made of material which is soft and resilient whenunder the influence of steam, mounted between said ball members andbodily movable longitudinally within said socket, said gasket having itsend portions curved to conform to the shape of the ball members andwedge into the spaces between the ball and socket members and beingprovided with shoulders on its inner face near its ends, and a springinterposed between said shoulders serving to stretch the gasket intooperative engagement with the ball members.

4. In a llexible pipe joint, the combination of an internallycylindrical socket member, hollow globular ball members extending fromsaid socket member at opposite ends thereof, means for flexiblyconnecting the ball members with the socket member, a single annularpacking member of less length than the internal length of the socket andbodily movable longitudinally within the socket and having globularlyconcaved end portions interposed between said ball members and theadjacent inner walls of the socket member, and a spring acting on saidgasket serving to force the ends of the gasket i'nto operative contactwith the ends of the ball members.

5. In a flexible pipe joint, the combination of a socket member havingan elongated socket cavity, ball members extending into opposite ends ofthe socket cavity, means for flexibly connecting the ball members withthe socket member, a single annular packing member of less length thanthe socket cavity imperforate from end to end bodily movablelongitudinally within the socket and interposed between said ballmembers and bearing at its ends against the ball members, and a springserving to stretch the packing and press the ends of the packing againstthe ball members whereby the packing acts'as a gasket forming a tightjoint between the ball members.

6. A flexible joint comprising two internally cylindrical socketmembers, a ball member in the outer end of each socket member, means forpreventing withdrawal of the ball members through the outer ends of thesocket members and serving to permit a limited swinging motion and alimited rotary motion of the ball members within the socket members,means for securing said two socket members releasably together to form asingle cylindrical socket cavity, and a single longitudinally extensibleannular packing member of less length than the socket cavity andimpertorate from end to end bodily movable within the connected socketmembers and interposed between said ball members and bearing at its endsagainst the ball members serving to i'orm a tight joint therewith.

7. A ilexible joint comprising two internally cylindrical socketmembers, a ball member in the outer' end of each socket member, meansfor preventing withdrawal of the ball members through the outer ends otthe socket members and serving to permit a limited swinging motion and alimited rotary motion of the ball members within the socket members,means for securing said two socket members releasably together, a singleannular packing member having curved surfaces bearing against said ballmembers, respectively, said packing member being formed with shouldersadjacent to said curved surfaces, and a spring interposed between sai-dshoulders.

8. A flexible joint comprising two internally cylindrical socketmembers, a ball member in the outer end of each socket member, means forpreventing withdrawal of the ball members through the outer ends of thesocket members and serving to permit a limited swinging motion and alimited rotary motion of the ball members within the socket members,means for securing said two socket members releasably together, anelongated annular gasket made of material which is soft and resilientwhen under the influence of steam, mounted between said ball memberswithin said socket, said asket having its end portions curved to con ormto the shape of the ball members and being provided with shoulders onits inner face near its ends, and a spring interposed between saidshoulders serving to set the gasket into operative engagement with theball members.

9. In a flexible pipe joint, the combination' of an internallycylindrical socket member, pipe members having ends projecting into theopposite ends of the socket member, means for articulating these pipeends in the socket member, a single externally cylindricallongitudinally extensible annular gasket member of less length than theinternal length of the socket member and slidably litting for bodilylongitudinal movement within the socket member, and having enlarged endsshaped to wedge into the spaces between the socket and pipe ends, and aspring confined between the enlarged end portions of the gasket toelongate the gasket and hold the enlarged ends in engagement with thepipe ends.

10. In a flexible pipe joint, the combination of an internallycylindrical socket member, ball;members extending into opposite ends ofthe socket member, means for lexibly connecting the ball members withthe socket member, and a single externally cylindrical resilient annularpacking member of less length than the internal length of the socketmember and littin within the socket with capacity for free odilylongitudinal sliding movement toward or from either ball, the ends ofsaid packing member which lit between the ball and socket mem'- -bersbeing formed with curved end surfaces bearing against said ball membersrespec-

